A Lawrence man who spoke out last year about his efforts to turn his life around after being released from prison has been charged with dealing crack cocaine.

A grand jury in U.S. District Court on Wednesday indicted Marcus L. Crawford, 43, on two counts of distributing crack cocaine. Prosecutors allege the crimes happened on Sept. 14, 2005 – about two months after he stepped off a bus in Lawrence after being paroled from prison.

At the time, Crawford told a Journal-World reporter that he’d put his life of crime behind him. He was living at the Salvation Army Shelter and trying to find work, but all he had when he arrived in town were his clothes and $40 that Lansing state prison officials gave him before they put him on the bus.

“I find myself during the bulk of the day doing nothing, and I’m not a nothing person,” Crawford said at the time. “I write myself a letter every night to keep myself focused.

Marcus L. Crawford arrived last summer in Lawrence with just 0 and the clothes he was given upon release from Lansing state prison. Although he vowed then that his life of crime was behind him, Crawford has been indicted on two federal counts of distributing crack cocaine. He faces up to 20 years in prison for each charge.

“I tell myself to be strong, to let things come to you, and to take it one day at a time. Things will work out. I (write the letter) so I won’t let myself get sucked into this homeless lifestyle.”

Crawford first entered the prison system in 1981 and has four convictions for battery and a conviction for aggravated burglary. Before coming to Lawrence in July, he had been in prison for 90 days after having his parole revoked for a positive drug test.

He now faces up to 20 years in prison for each cocaine-dealing charge.

The case will be prosecuted in federal court by Brandon Jones, an assistant Douglas County prosecutor recently authorized to try drug cases in federal court as a way to seek stiffer penalties.